USA > Ohio > Cuyahoga County > Cleveland > A history of Cleveland, Ohio, Volume II > Part 59
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to his capable management of his interests. He received as his share of his father's estate a considerable fortune, which he greatly increased by judicious investments until he became one of the leading capitalists of Cleveland. During the later years of his life he became largely interested in navigation. He and others purchased the barge, Kate Winslow, and later built the H. J. Johnson and the George Pressley. In 1892 he was interested in the purchase of the Minnehaha and in 1893 of the Nellie Reddington. He held extensive and valuable real-estate interests in Cleveland and much of his time was required in looking after this property. In politics he was a stanch democrat but while he believed firmly in the principles of the party he did not seek nor desire public office, preferring to concentrate his energies upon the management of his business affairs.
P. L. Johnson was united in marriage to Sarah M. Clark, a daughter of Michael and Sarah Clark and a native of Dublin, Ireland. She was reared, however, in London, England. Unto Mr. and Mrs. Johnson were born six chil- dren. The first two, Margaret and Mary, were twins. The former is now the wife of Lorimer Porter, of Cleveland, while Mary is now Mrs. Spencer. Harriett K., Mrs. Clare J. Cobb and Levi A. are the other living members of the family. The last named is a graduate of Yale College and a man of excellent business ability, displaying the same sterling traits of character manifested by his father and grandfather. Another son of the family, Clark Johnson, died in 1891 at the age of eleven years.
P. L. Johnson was a member of the Masonic fraternity, being connected with the lodge, with Webb Chapter, No. 14, R. A. M., the Commandery, the Ohio Consistory and the Mystic Shrine. He was also identified with the Knights of Pythias and he belonged to the Vessel Owners' Association and to the Cleveland Chamber of Commerce. He died May 18, 1907, and his son, Levi A. Johnson, is now engaged in looking after his father's estate. To accumulate a fortune requires one kind of genius; to retain a fortune already acquired, to add to its legitimate increment and to make such use of it that its possessor may derive therefrom the greatest enjoyment and the public the greatest benefit, requires another kind of genius. Levi A. Johnson belongs to that younger generation of business men of Cleveland called upon to shoulder responsibilities differing ma- terially from those resting upon their predecessors, but though in a broader field of enterprise today, obliged to deal with affairs of great magnitude, he is proving himself competent to solve difficult and complicated financial and eco- nomic problems.
DAVID HENRY KIMBERLEY.
The late David Henry Kimberley of Cleveland was a man whose marked characteristics were kindness of heart, courtesy and business strength. For years his name was intimately associated with financial affairs, and the banking inter- ests of this city were safely conserved by him. His birth occurred at Great Bor- ton, England, a suburb of Birmingham, September 22, 1842, he being a son of George Kimberley, also born in England, who became a manufacturer at Great Borton. Later he removed to Birmingham, there to engage in a grocery business until 1862, when he died aged sixty-seven years. His wife, Maria Ashwell, was born at Browns Grove, England, in 1800, and was a daughter of Rev. James Ashwell, a Baptist minister. In 1831 the latter removed his family to Cleveland, and from there to Newburg, but finally he returned to this city and for years preached the gospel. In those early times but little salary was paid a clergyman and so in order to support his family, Mr. Ashwell worked in a nail shop six days in the week and preached on the seventh. He was twice married but Mrs. Kim- berley and her brother James were the children of the first. She was twenty-one years old and already the mother of one child when her brother James was born.
D. H. KIMBERLEY
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When David Henry Kimberley was five years old his mother decided to visit her parents and so with her six children set sail on the Henry Clay in 1846. One child, the eldest, and the father remained in England. Six weeks were consumed in making the voyage, the family landing in New York city on Christmas eve of 1846. During the long trip, the ship caught fire but the flames were extin- guished before any serious damage was done, but on its following voyage it was utterly destroyed by fire.
Leaving New York city, the little party went to Albany by water, thence to Buffalo by rail, and then to Cleveland by stage, as the lakes were frozen over. For a short time Mrs. Kimberley made her home with her father and then with her six children, Alexander, Sophia, Sarah, Frederick, Edward and David H., began housekeeping for herself. She was a self-reliant woman who lived accord- ing to strict moral precepts and brought up her children accordingly. Her death occurred in 1876, and she is buried in Riverside cemetery.
David Henry Kimberley only attended school until he was ten years old and then commenced earning his own living in a dry-goods house, remaining with his first employer until he was fifteen years old. His next work was on a farm but he soon found that he was not suited for that kind of labor. Like so many boys brought up on the lakes, he had a desire for a sea-faring life and so spent a year on the schooner John F. Warner and the propeller Galena.
Having worked for six years, the lad had developed a self-reliance and at the age of sixteen he opened a meat market at the corner of Detroit and Kentucky streets in the fall of 1860. He was doing well in the spring of 1861, but his patriotism could not withstand the appeal made to it and so he sold his business and enlisted in April, 1861, in James P. McIlbrath's Light Guard Zouaves for three months. Before the expiration of his three months' enlistment, Captain McIlbrath induced his company to reenlist, and it became Company A, Twenty- third Ohio Volunteer Infantry with W. S. Rosecrans as colonel; Stanley Mat- thews, lieutenant colonel; Rutherford B. Hayes, major; General Hastings, first lieutenant ; and Robert Kenedy, second lieutenant. Later J. M. Comley became major. President Mckinley went out in the same company as a private and came back as major. Probably no other company furnished so many distinguished men to the country as Company A, for all of these men afterward occupied high positions. It was assigned to the Army of the Potomac and later to the Army of West Virginia. Mr. Kimberley escaped injury or capture although many were his escapes. In 1864, when he had served two months over his term of enlist- ment, he was honorably discharged at his state capitol, having been a brave and loyal soldier. Although a veteran at this time, he was only twenty-two years old.
Returning to Cleveland, he embarked in a flour and feed business on Detroit street and continued to conduct it for twenty-two years. From the time of his return to the city, Mr. Kimberley identified himself with the republican party and served on its county central and city central committees. In 1885 he was elected county treasurer by a majority of four thousand votes and ran far ahead of his ticket when he was reelected in 1887, retiring from that office in 1890.
When William H. Doan died Mr. Kimberley was elected president of the Cleveland Permanent Building & Loan Association to succeed him, and held that position to his death. In May, 1891, he was elected president of the newly formed Lorain Street Savings Bank and in the same year was made president of the Northern Ohio Paving & Construction Company. At the same time he was made president of the East Harbor Boating and Fishing Club, and the Produce Ex- change Banking Company. In addition he was a director in the Ohio Abstract Company, a trustee of the Riverside Cemetery Association, and vice president of the Permanent Block Company.
On May 20, 1865, Mr. Kimberley was united in marriage to Miss Elsie A. Cunningham, a daughter of Archibald and Nancy (Taylor) Cunningham. the former of Pennsylvania and the latter of New York, who came to Cleveland in 1847. Mr. Cunningham was a wagonmaker in Cuyahoga Falls and was in the
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employ of the Cleveland, Columbus & Cincinnati Railroad for twenty-five years, becoming foreman of the shops. Later he removed to Columbus, where he was foreman of the Panhandle shops, continuing there for twenty-five years. His death occurred in Columbus. The children of Mr. and Mrs. Kimberley are four in number, as follows: David H., who is engaged in the real-estate business in Los Angeles, California ; George G., who is in a real-estate business in Cleveland ; Mabel, the wife of George R. Mckay, an attorney of this city; and Rhea Nell, who was graduated from Miss Middlebury's School and from the Emerson Col- lege of Oratory in Boston.
Fraternally Mr. Kimberley was a Knight of Pythias, and also belonged to the Army and Navy Post, G. A. R. The death of this prominent man occurred October 29, 1906, and in him Cleveland lost not only one of its most conservative bankers and progressive business men but a loyal and devoted citizen, who had the city's welfare close at heart. He was a warm, personal friend of Mark Hanna, who urged him to accept public office and went on the one million dollar bond required of the treasurer of Cuyahoga county.
The life of Mr. Kimberley was filled with noble deeds. Although cut off be- fore his family and friends were willing to spare him, he had accomplished more than two ordinary men. Commencing his business life at a time when most lads are still in school, he never faltered but advanced steadily upward and well earned the high place to which he attained in the confidence and affection of his com- munity.
THOMAS WINSTON BURNHAM.
Thomas Winston Burnham, president of the Star Elevator Company and a representative citizen of Cleveland, was here born January 22, 1844. He is a son of Thomas and Maria Louisa (White) Burnham and a descendant of one of the old and prominent families of New England. The line of descent is traced back to Thomas Burnham, the progenitor of the family in America, who was born in England in 1617 and in 1635 sailed from Gravesend for the Barbadoes. Soon afterward he came to New England, settling in Hartford, Connecticut, - where he spent his remaining days. From this Thomas Burnham there de- scended a very numerous posterity now found in all parts of the country. Many representatives of the family are in Connecticut and are of a high type of citi- zenship.
Thomas Burnham, the father of Thomas Winston Burnham, became one of the honored and valued residents of Cleveland, removing to this city in 1833 from Glens Falls, New York, where he engaged in the grain elevator business, founding the business now conducted by his son. He was a pioneer in this line of commercial activity and for many years carried on a successful undertaking in conducting the Erie Grain Elevators. Year by year the business increased, owing to the constant expansion of his trade connections, and after a long and honorable business career he retired in 1885, returning to Glens Falls, where he spent the remainder of his life. There he passed away in 1898, at the venerable age of ninety years. He was widely known in commercial circles for not only did he handle extensive grain interests but· was also at one time the president of the Cleveland Malleable Iron Company and of the Cleveland Burial Case Com- pany. He was a man of determined spirit, carrying forward to successful com- pletion whatever he undertook, and his probity stood as an unquestioned factor in his career. Politically he was a whig while later he became a republican. For two terms he served as mayor of Ohio City, now the west side of Cleveland, and his efforts in behalf of general progress and improvement were far-reaching and beneficial. He was one of the original members of the Second Presbyterian church and his influence counted for much in the moral progress of the com-
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munity. Of his children but three are now living, the daughters being Mrs. James N. Norris, of St. Louis, and Mrs. Thomas Kilpatrick, of Omaha.
The only son, Thomas Winston Burnham, acquired his education in the pub- lic schools of Cleveland and in Union College at Schenectady, New York, from which he was graduated in 1864, with the degree of Bachelor of Arts. The same year he entered his father's business and in 1865 became proprietor of the Erie Grain Elevators. In this connection he conducted a profitable and growing business until 1875, when he founded the Star Elevator and Mills, which business was incorporated in 1899 under the name of the Star Elevator Company, of which he has since been president Few men are more thoroughly informed concerning the grain trade of this city and his operations in this field of labor place him in a prominent position in business circles. Moreover he is the vice president of the National City Bank, a director of the Cleveland Burial Case Company and a member of the executive committee of the Citizens Sav- ings & Trust Company.
In 1869 Mr. Burnham was married in Cleveland to Miss Mary K. Coll, a daughter of Thomas Coll, and they have two daughters, Mabel Gordon, now the wife of George W. Grandin, of Cleveland, and Kate Winston now Mrs. J. Pres- cott Burton, of this city. Mr. Burnham's social nature finds expression in his membership in the Union, Country, Euclid and University Clubs of Cleveland and of the Union Club he served as president in 1899-1900. He is also a mem- ber of the University Club of New York. His political allegiance is given to the republican party but he has never aspired to office. He attends the Trinity Cathedral, being of the Episcopal faith, and his influence is always found on the side of right and truth, of progress and improvement. While he entered upon a business already established, by sound judgment, clear perception and indefati- gable energy, expressed along modern business lines, Mr. Burnham has not only won success in continuing the business but has enlarged its scope and promoted its importance as a factor in the commercial circles of this city.
HERBERT BRUCE BRIGGS.
Herbert Bruce Briggs, of Briggs & Nelson, architects, at 669 Rose building, was born at Sharon, Medina county, Ohio, in 1866. His parents, Thomas G. and Mary Crane Briggs, descendants of New York and Massachusetts families of Scotch and English origin, are living upon the old farm which has been the home of the family for more than seventy-five years. Mr. Briggs spent the first seventeen years of his life in work on the farm and in attending the district and high schools of Sharon. In 1883 he entered the preparatory school of Buchtel College, Akron, Ohio, and was graduated from the college in 1889 with the degree of Bachelor of Science.
As a boy Mr. Briggs chose architecture for his life work and in col- lege elected his studies to meet the practical demands of the profession. In 1889 he entered the office of Coburn & Barnum, architects, of Cleveland, as a student draftsman and continued in this firm's employ as draftsman and superintendent of construction until 1897, when, upon the death of Mr. Coburn, with Mr. Bar- num, Mr. Nelson and others he formed the partnership of F. S. Barnum & Com- pany, architects. This firm continued until 1904, when Mr. Briggs and Harry S. Nelson purchased Mr. Barnum's interest and formed the firm of Briggs & Nelson.
Aş superintendent Mr. Briggs had charge of the construction of the Good- rich House and the Western Reserve Historical Society building and as archi- tect and superintendent, the Caxton building, the Church of the Unity, the addi- tions to and alterations in the Euclid Avenue Congregational church, the Glen-
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ville high school, the South Presbyterian church, and Buchtel Academy and Curtis Cottage of Buchtel College, Akron, Ohio.
Recognizing the field, Briggs & Nelson have specialized in the erection of Young Men's Christian Association buildings and have built the Railroad and City Men's Association building at Bellevue, Ohio, the Lake Shore & Michigan Southern Railroad Association building at Collinwood, the Association building at Steubenville, Ohio, the Association building at Ashtabula, Ohio and have com- missions for large buildings at Youngstown and East Liverpool, Ohio. In addi- tion to this work they have erected a testing laboratory for the Lake Shore & Michigan Southern Railway Company at Collinwood, the Knight chemical labor- atory at Buchtel College and residences for E. W. Haines, Malcolm L. McBride and Dr. Henry S. Upson. Mr. Briggs devotes his entire attention to this con- cern and his thorough training and long experience well qualify him for the most difficult and important work.
In 1891 Mr. Briggs was married to Miss Clara L. Cameron, of Akron, and they have one son, Carl C., who was born in 1892.
Mr. Briggs is a member of the Chamber of Commerce, chairman of the Cuyahoga County Board of Visitors, a member of the Cleveland Chapter of the American Institute of Architects and member of the board of management of the Central Friendly Inn. He was an instructor of architectural drawings in the Cleveland Central Young Men's Christian Association's Institute for ten years and is now chairman of its educational committee and a member of its committee of management. Outside of his profession Mr. Briggs' study and in- terests have been along educational and sociological lines which have prompted a broad and thorough study, investigation and knowledge of municipal prob- lems.
JOHN R. RANNEY.
John R. Ranney, who was a prominent representative of the Cleveland bar and also left the impress of his individuality upon literary and musical circles and those interests which work for broad culture and uplift, was born in Warren, Ohio, October 5, 1851, and passed to his final rest on the 4th of June, 1901. His father, Rufus P, Ranney, was born in Blandford, Massachusetts, October 13, 1813, and made the overland journey from New England to Freedom, Ohio, in 1824, before the building of railroads throughout this section of the state. His arrival in Cleveland was chronicled in the year 1855 and he became one of the most eminent attorneys of the city, carving his name upon the keystone of the legal arch. He was equally renowned as a congressman and statesman, his labors doing much to shape the political and public policy of Cleveland and the state at large. His wife bore the maiden name of Adeline Warner and was also a native of New England.
In the public schools of Cleveland John R. Ranney pursued his early educa- tion, being only in his fourth year when the removal was made to this city. He afterward continued his studies at Exeter, New Hampshire, and completed the literary course within the classic walls of old Harvard in 1874. His professional training was received in the law department of the University of Michigan and in 1876 he joined his father in practice, the partnership relation being maintained between them for many years, while subsequently he was associated with his cousin, H. C. Ranney, the firm continuing its existence until 1891, when John R. Ranney retired. He was an excellent example of the student and lawyer of high purpose and his fellow members of the bar frequently commented upon his fine mind and excellent judgment. He ranked among the foremost lawyers of Cleve- land. He was great because nature had endowed him bountifully and he had studiously and carefully and conscientiouslv increased the talents that had been given him. A ripe scholar and a giant in intellect, he was as much at home in the
JJ. R. RANNEY
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wide field of literature as in the realm of the law and exercised discrimination in the volumes which he read. Art and music also had their place in his life and he was instrumental in organizing the Philharmonic Orchestra, of which he was an enthusiastic member.
Neither was Mr. Ranney unknown in military circles, for he served as lieu- tenant in the Gatling Gun Battery. Fond of outdoor sports, he belonged to the Castalia Fishing Club and the Winons Shooting Club. While he usually gave his support to the democracy, upon all political questions he manifested a broad- minded interest, his opinions being the logical conclusion of careful consideration and research.
On the 17th of November, 1881, occurred the marriage of Mr. Ranney and Miss Mary Suggitt, a daughter of David and Sarah Elizabeth (Page) Suggitt, who came from Scarborough, England, to America and settled in the Western Reserve about 1850. Mrs. Ranney has been a resident of Cleveland since her girlhood and is a well known singer, for years having sung in the First Presbyterian Ply- mouth and Trinity churches. The interests of home were paramount to all else in the life of Mr. Ranney, but home was never to him a mere local habitat. It was that place where all those graces which minister to culture and refinement are most cultivated, and art, music and literature all found expression in the life of the household. The demands of his profession were fully met and viewed from every standpoint he was one of the greatest of those men whose names the legal profession will always treasure with gratitude and respect.
ADELBERT KENT HAWLEY.
Adelbert Kent Hawley died on the 5th of March, 1907. He had previously been well known in Cleveland as a druggist and in all the relations of life, in his business connections, in social and fraternal circles and in the home he stood as a splendid representative of honorable, upright manhood, esteemed by all who knew him for his general personal worth. He was born in Jefferson, Ashtabula county, Ohio, on the 27th of July, 1843. His father, Dr. Almon Hawley, was a prominent physician of Jefferson, who came from Connecticut to Ohio in the year 1803. He married Sophronia Marsh and they spent their last days in Jefferson.
Adelbert K. Hawley, spending his boyhood days under the parental roof, attended the Jefferson union schools. He was graduated from the high school there at the age of seventeen years and afterward attended Grand River Insti- tute at Austinburg, Ohio, where he studied Latin and Greek, thus preparing to take up the study of medicine, to which he devoted a short time. In 1863 he went to Philadelphia to prepare himself for the drug business and not only studied along that line but also studied music there. In 1864 he returned to Jefferson, Ohio, and took charge of the drug business of W. R. Allen & Com- pany, so continuing until 1868. Ambitious, however, to engage in business for himself, he opened a drug store in Jefferson, Ohio, where he continued until 1897. He then came to Cleveland and became connected with Mr. Fox in the drug business at the corner of Cedar and East Ninety-seventh streets. This association was maintained until 1906, when he retired, spending the last year of his life in the enjoyment of well earned rest. For forty-two years he was con- tinuously identified with the drug trade as manager or owner of a store and his thorough and comprehensive knowledge of the properties and uses of drugs as well as his ability in managing a commercial enterprise made him one of the successful merchants of the city.
On the 6th of May, 1868, Mr. Hawley was united in marriage in Mt. Ver- non, Ohio, to Miss Lida Lewis, a daughter of David C. and Mary ( Murphy) Lewis, who were early settlers of that place. The father was well known as an
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expert surveyor and draftsman and did a good business in that line. Unto Mr. and Mrs. Hawley were born three children: Alice May; Laura Grace; and Carl Lewis, who died at the age of thirty-two years.
In his political views Mr. Hawley was a republican and, though he never sought nor desired office, he was well informed on the questions and issues of the day. He belonged to the Royal Arcanum and was secretary of the Cleve- land Association of Ashtabula People for ten years. He took an active part in its gatherings, which included an annual banquet held in Cleveland. His chief interest, however, centered in the church, his membership being with the First Baptist church of Jefferson, in which he was organist and choir leader for thirty years. Later he became a member of the Cedar Avenue Baptist church of Cleve- land. He was a man of religious spirit, whose deep and thoughtful considera- tion of the things of life in relation to the life to come made him a cooperant factor in all measures which he deemed would promote the moral uplift of the community. As the years passed his many good qualities endeared him to those with whom he came in contact. He was honored for his business probity, esteemed for his loyalty in citizenship and his devotion to family and friends. He died March 5, 1907, and thus was terminated a good and useful life, one which had contributed its share to the world's work and uplifting.
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